Russia’s Second Car Bomb Wounds Former Ukraine PM Aide Sergei Zavorotniy

Sergei Zavorotniy, a former spokesman for a pro-Russian Ukrainian prime minister, was injured Friday when a car exploded in Moscow, according to Russian media reports.

The Kommersant newspaper said Zavorotniy, who previously served as a senior aide to Mykola Azarov, was hospitalized after the blast in Chertanovo, a district in southern Moscow. Azarov was Ukraine’s prime minister from 2010 to 2014.

The incident marked the second reported car bombing in Russia in as many days.

Moscow has previously accused Ukraine of orchestrating the killings of senior military officials and others associated with Russia’s war effort.

Ukrainian officials had not issued an immediate response by Friday.

Ren TV and the 112 Telegram channel reported that Zavorotniy lost his left arm in the blast. The reports said he was being treated for a concussion, fractured ribs and other injuries.

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The Baza Telegram channel released an image showing a black four-door vehicle with a shattered windshield, damaged doors and a destroyed front bumper on a city street.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s principal agency for handling serious crimes, said it had launched an investigation.

Azarov fled to Russia in 2014 after Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution removed pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. The uprising followed Yanukovych’s decision to abandon a promise to pursue closer relations with the European Union.

Azarov told Russia’s state-run TASS news agency Friday that he had no details about the explosion, other than confirmation that Zavorotniy had survived.

The blast was the latest in a string of apparent assassination attempts in Russia. On Thursday, a member of the Russian military was killed in a car bombing in St. Petersburg.

Ukrainian sources have claimed responsibility for some such attacks while rejecting involvement in others. Kyiv has not commented on Thursday’s explosion.